Match Preview

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini admits he cannot be sure how long Carlos Tevez might stay with the club.

Reports this week quoted Tevez's representative Kia Joorabchian as claiming the Argentina striker - who netted his 50th goal for City in Sunday's 5-0 FA Cup fourth-round replay victory over Notts County - would be happy to rejoin Brazilian side Corinthians, a move he was confident he could seal for his client within the next couple of years.

Tevez's current deal with City runs until the summer of 2014 and when asked if he felt keeping hold of the club captain would be a problem, Mancini said: "I don't know this.

"I'm happy for Carlos because he has scored 50 goals for Manchester City and I hope he can continue to score, but in football it is impossible to know what will happen in the future. I hope Carlos can continue to play here."

Mancini insisted he was not concerned by the speculation and that his focus was on City's remaining fixtures this season, starting with the Europa League last-32 second leg against Aris Salonika on Thursday night.

"At this moment, I am worried only about the game, not about other things," the Italian said.

"I am worried about the championship and the cups. For the moment Carlos is here, he plays for Manchester City. He is important, but in the squad there are more than 20 players who are all important.

"It is normal when you have a striker like Carlos, or Mario (Balotelli) or (Edin) Dzeko, that it is important they play. But I don't know what will happen next year."

Ahead of the clash with Greek outfit Aris, with whom they drew 0-0 in the first leg, City have been hit by the news that goalkeeper Shay Given could be out of action for three months with a shoulder injury.

Given is seeing a specialist about the problem and Mancini expects the Republic of Ireland international will require surgery.
Balotelli is fit to play despite suffering a clash of heads at the weekend, while Shaun Wright-Phillips is also in contention again having been sidelined with a back problem.

Micah Richards has picked up what appears to be a calf injury so will not feature and James Milner (hamstring), Nigel de Jong and Adam Johnson (both ankle) remain in the treatment room.

Aris, who are hoping to reach the last 16 for the first time in their history, are expected to start with Sergio Koke and former City man Nery Castillo up front after both were rested in league action at the weekend.

Formation:433Manager: Roberto Mancini

Man City

Formation: 4411Manager: Enrique Hernandez

Aris Salonika

Joe Hart

Jerome Boateng

Vincent Kompany

Joleon Lescott

Aleksandar Kolarov

David Silva

Gnegneri Toure Yaya

Gareth Barry

Carlos Tevez

Edin Dzeko

Mario Balotelli

SUBS

Stuart Taylor

Pablo Zabaleta

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Patrick Vieira

Joao Alves Jo

Kolo Toure

Reece Wabara

Home

Away

Michail Sifakis

Kristi Vangeli

Ronaldo Guiaro

Nikos Lazaridis

Garbini Michel

Thanasis Prittas

Ricardo Faty

Darcy Neto

Juan Carlos Toja

Raul Marcelo Bobadilla

Daisuke Sakata

SUBS

Barrero Juanma

Lozano Farran Oriol

Danijel Cesarec

Sergio Koke

Konstatinos Kaznaferis

Costas Mendrinos

Match Report

Dzeko at the double as City sail through
Edin Dzeko scored twice in the opening 12 minutes as Manchester City completed a routine 3-0 win over Aris at Eastlands to book a Europa League last-16 clash with Dynamo Kiev.
After unleashing his own battery of strikers on a limited Greek outfit, Blues boss Roberto Mancini now faces a great of the past in Andriy Shevchenko.
It will not be easy judging by the way Dynamo so comfortably crushed Besiktas but with his side beginning another winning run, Mancini will be hopeful of further progress, even if an FA Cup draw with Aston Villa next Wednesday would force the Blues to play twice in three days ahead of the first leg in the Ukraine on March 10.
Certainly, Dzeko can approach the tie in confident mood after claiming his first brace since a #27million arrival from Wolfsburg last month.
The giant Bosnian should have been heading home with the match ball after failing to take a glorious opportunity provided by David Silva.
A third did eventually come though, for Yaya Toure, whose 25-yard effort took a fairly sizeable deflection.
Given he scored in the final minute against Notts County on Sunday, Dzeko might argue he completed a 13-minute hat-trick given the explosive start he made here.
And to think, leading up to the weekend FA Cup win, the Bosnian's form had been scrutinised after registering a single goal since his big-money arrival from Wolfsburg last month.
Such judgements were incredibly harsh given the difficulty most players experience when they move during the January transfer window, and so Dzeko has proved.
His opener did involve a large slice of good fortune.
Aleksandar Kolarov, who had already drifted two curling free-kicks narrowly over, did not appear to be trying anything inventive as he hoofed a long ball forward from inside his own half.
After defending so defiantly last week, Aris collapsed.
Nikolaos Lazaridis got himself in a tangle as he tried to control, succeeding only in turning the ball into Dzeko's path as he fell.
The finish was excellent, the ball nestling in the far corner, which Dzeko found with a precise low shot that gave Michail Sifakis no chance.
Dzeko's second was equally eye-catching from the striker's point of view.
Collecting Carlos Tevez's short pass, Dzeko cut inside Michel, then went for the same corner, only this time with his left foot, with exactly the same result.
He really should have had an authentic hat-trick too.
Sent clear by Silva's brilliant through ball in the final minutes of the half, Dzeko galloped on.
But in trying to round Sifakis, Dzeko got too close to the keeper, who stuck out a hand to block the ball.
The City man's momentum was stopped and before he could regain it, the Aris defence had closed ranks.
It was a first half that justified Roberto Mancini's bold decision to play his big-name strikers, even if Mario Balotelli was a peripheral figure.
With Silva on the field as well, the Blues were committed to attack, although predictably, it was in defence where the price was paid.
As he trudged off, Vincent Kompany was clearly troubled by his hip.
The impressive Belgian has been such a key figure in the Blues' backline this term and it would be a major setback for Mancini if Kompany was forced to miss a few games after taking a seemingly innocuous blow.
Tellingly, Mancini opted to bring on Pablo Zabaleta and move Jerome Boateng into central defence rather than introducing Kolo Toure as a direct replacement.
Zabaleta was his usual industrious self. And it was the Argentinian who combined with Tevez to set up Balotelli midway through the second half.
The youngster went for goal with a well-struck first-time effort that came crashing back off the base of a post.
It was Toure who bagged the third after Kolarov's corner had been cleared into his path.
The Ivorian's shot was powerful enough but it probably would not have gone in without the deflection that took it away from Sifakis.